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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, ApRIl 19, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
publisher
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GUEST COLUMN
Republican governor nominee will be chosen by small pool of voters
R
oughly 4% of Oregon’s voters
will choose the state’s Republi-
can candidate for governor.
That estimate comes from pollster
John Horvick, senior vice president at
DHM Research in Portland.
It stems from the fact that 19 Repub-
licans are on their party’s gubernatorial
ballot at the May 17 primary election.
Some have legitimate chances to win.
More probably believe they do.
“When the Democrats look weak, it
inspires lots of Repub-
licans to run,” Hor-
vick said. “When lots
of Republicans run, the
winner makes it though
the primary with a small
share of the vote. But
because Democrats are
DICK
weak, the Republican is
HUGHES
still competitive in the
general.”
The enticing question becomes, will
those 4% yield a candidate who can
appeal to a broader swath of Oregonians
in November?
The Democratic race is generally
seen as a contest between two Port-
land-area politicians — former state
House Speaker Tina Kotek and State
Treasurer Tobias Read — but 15 people
are on the ballot.
And well-funded independent Betsy
Johnson is waiting in the wings.
Horvick bases the 4% estimate on
Mark Graves/The Oregonian
In early April, 11 of the 19 Republican candidates for governor participated in a debate
hosted by the advocacy group #TimberUnity.
historical data — about a 50% voter
turnout in the GOP primary and the win-
ner receiving 35% of those votes.
Kevin Mannix won the 2002 Repub-
lican primary with 35% and Chris Dud-
ley won in 2010 with 39%. They came
closest so far this century to ending
the Democratic hold on the governor’s
office.
Though Democrat Ted Kulongoski
won the 2002 general election with 49%
of the vote. Mannix gained 46.2%. In
2010, Democrat John Kitzhaber returned
to the governorship with 49.3% of the
vote, but Dudley was close with 47.8%.
In contrast, Gov. Kate Brown claimed
a majority four years ago – 50.1% to
Republican Knute Buehler’s 43.7%.
The strong showings by Mannix and
Dudley occurred at times when DHM
Research surveys showed keen dissat-
isfaction with the state’s direction. This
year, the satisfaction level – headed in
the right direction versus on the wrong
track – hit the lowest level in 25 years.
Meanwhile, the latest voting registra-
tion figures from the Secretary of State’s
Office show Republicans gained about
1,300 voters in the past month and
Democrats have lost that many.
Eleven of the Republican candidates
turned out this month for a two-hour
debate sponsored by #TimberUnity on
natural resource issues. All 11 stressed
their conservative credentials and com-
mitment to the timber, agriculture and
related industries.
Among the comments:
Brandon Merritt said Republicans
are well-positioned to win. He was the
rare candidate who said that to do so,
Republicans must be able to reach the
political center – not changing their
conservative values but evolving. He
noted there are more nonaffiliated vot-
ers in Oregon than either Republicans or
Democrats.
Bud Pierce talked about how to get
agencies on the side of the timber indus-
try and about the need to expand Ore-
gon’s Right-to-Farm Law. Bob Tiernan
said conserving water was the best way
out of drought, but he also advocated
building more reservoirs and canals and
exploring cloud seeding.
Stan Pulliam was among those vow-
ing to trim the state workforce.
Christine Drazan and others praised
#TimberUnity’s carbon emissions pro-
posal that countered Brown’s carbon
tax and trade plan. “It was Kate’s way
or the highway. And let’s be honest, for
House Republicans, we chose the high-
way,” Drazan said.
The candidates were cordial to one
another but, unsurprisingly, not to
Brown and Democrats.
“Republicans aren’t perfect. But
the other side, a lot of them are really
crazy,” said Court Boice.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
True understanding
J
ust whom do the Clatsop County com-
missioners work for?
When my husband and I purchased a
vacation home for family use, we chose
to purchase on the beautiful north Oregon
Coast and, upon arrival, we were greeted
by friendly neighbors. Yay, we thought,
this is truly a neighborhood environment,
one where folks know each other and
watch out for each other.
In the seven years that we’ve owned
our home, more and more of the houses in
our neighborhood became short-term rent-
als. Now homes are being sold to actual
rental companies, with no pretense of res-
idential living.
Those first neighbors we came to
love moved due to health reasons, and
their home sold and became a short-term
rental. Now we have a true understanding
of the impact that rentals have in a resi-
dential neighborhood.
We no longer have a consistent friend
across the street, we now have a house
that can turn over as many as three times
in one week. These visiting groups do
not become part of our community of
neighbors.
The Clatsop County commissioners are
right now deciding whether to change the
rules on what is allowed in our Coastal
Residential zone.
Short-term rentals are a business, and
voters should decide whether they want
neighborhoods to turn into business ven-
tures. Please contact your county com-
missioners and let them know what you
think! Let them know they should not be
making these important decisions without
the voters!
SUSAN PADUANO
Boise, Idaho
Greed of a few
W
e have reached the end of our abil-
ity to accommodate short-term
rentals in our neighborhoods. Our Clatsop
County commissioners have failed us and
now our businesses are struggling to stay
open due to lack of staff housing.
We all saw the warning signs from
other communities with tourist-based
economies, and ignored them because it
was easier to reap the benefits of an over-
booked destination.
The greed of a few has led to the suf-
fering of many. We need to act now.
Make no mistake, wealthy out-of-town
homeowners are running commercial
businesses in residential neighborhoods. It
would be illegal to build a hotel in a res-
idential zone, but you can build a house
and rent out its rooms.
Ask your commissioner where they
stand on short-term rental issues, and if
they do not believe in drastic change and
reform: Vote them out! And, encourage
others to do the same.
ROBERT TAYLOR
Warrenton
Humanity
R
egarding “Tensions over homeless-
ness make providing social ser-
vices difficult downtown” (The Astorian,
April 14): Erin Carlsen and Osarch Orak,
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
the two people responsible for operat-
ing LiFEBoat Services and Beacon Club-
house in downtown Astoria, deserve our
admiration for their humanity and com-
mitment to the residents of Clatsop
County.
They make our county a better place to
live for everyone. They spend their time
and limited funding to uplift people who
are forgotten and denigrated by “better”
people.
Those who fear what they are doing,
and who they are doing it for, should give
them a call and go visit their comfort-
able rooms. They will learn about the ser-
vices they offer, and meet the people who
stay there and learn to thrive because of
Carlsen’s and Orak’s unwavering dedi-
cation to those people in our community
who need to find a healthier direction.
We don’t need to run people like
Carlsen and Orak, and places like LiFE-
Boat Services and Beacon Clubhouse, out
of town, we need to find a way to wel-
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet-
ters, in person at 949 Exchange St.
in Astoria or mail to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
come more like them to come in and stay
here.
TESS CHEDSEY
Warrenton
Teach us
T
o the people I represent in the Warren-
ton/Hammond area: After the publish-
ing of the article in The Astorian on April
14 about the last Warrenton City Commis-
sion meeting, it appears my major offense
is that I don’t follow Robert’s Rules of
Order under the current interpretation at
that moment.
I have read that whole boring book, I
work in meetings with a nationally rec-
ognized instructor for Robert’s Rules,
and I have no problem in those meetings,
because the guidelines are always in the
same place. I do well in the mass amount
of meetings I attend throughout the year,
all of which are run under Robert’s Rules.
It’s just in the City Commission, where
the rules continually change in interpreta-
tion, that I get into trouble. I believe others
in our community have experienced that
same problem.
It would be great if the city could get
someone with the correct credentials to
teach us about what the rules absolutely
are, and are not.
RICK NEWTON
Warrenton City Commissioner
No longer ignore
T
here is a dangerous uprising I can no
longer ignore. Plastic is mounting
a deadly attack, and I feel called to see
beyond the foolishness of this predica-
ment for ways I can help save our planet.
So I am more mindful now of my use
of plastic, wiser about its hidden dangers,
and I have begun to do my part in helping
reduce, recycle and reuse.
Hard to find in the stores where
we typically buy groceries and toi-
letries, I recently purchased silk den-
tal floss. Granted, a small thing in liter-
ally a sea filled with wave after wave of
plastic around the globe, but it’s some-
thing, nonetheless, and every time I
floss it reminds me to seek eco-friendly
alternatives.
Earth Day on April 22 reminds us that
care for the Earth is something we are
called to do every day of the year. And
while responsible use of plastic is a very
complicated issue, it can be as easy as
flossing with silk.
JERRY R. O’NEILL
Hammond